Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.11.24 (mitogen-activated protein kinase)
 95,810 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Oocytes from higher chordates, including man and nearly all mammals, arrest at metaphase of the second meiotic division before fertilization. This arrest is due to an activity that has been termed 'Cytostatic Factor'. Cytostatic Factor maintains arrest through preventing loss in Maturation-Promoting Factor (MPF; CDK1/cyclin B). Physiologically, Cytostatic Factor - induced metaphase arrest is only broken by a Ca2+ rise initiated by the fertilizing sperm and results in degradation of cyclin B, the regulatory subunit of MPF through the Anaphase-Promoting Complex/Cyclosome (APC/C). Arrest at metaphase II may therefore be viewed as being maintained by inhibition of the APC/C, and Cytostatic Factor as being one or more pathways, one of which inhibits the APC/C, consorting in the preservation of MPF activity. Many studies over several years have implicated the c-Mos/MEK/MAPK pathway in the metaphase arrest of the two most widely studied vertebrates, frog and mouse. Murine downstream components of this cascade are not known but in frog involve members of the spindle assembly checkpoint, which act to inhibit the APC/C. Interesting these downstream components appear not to be involved in the arrest of mouse eggs, suggesting a lack of conservation with respect to c-Mos targets. However, the recent discovery of Emi2 as an egg specific APC/C inhibitor whose degradation is Ca2+ dependent has greatly increased our understanding of MetII arrest. Emi2 is involved in both the establishment and maintenance of metaphase II arrest in frog and mouse suggesting a conservation of metaphase II arrest. Its identity as the physiologically relevant APC/C inhibitor involved in Cytostatic Factor arrest prompted us to re-evaluate the role of the c-Mos pathway in metaphase II arrest. This review presents a model of Cytostatic Factor arrest, which is primarily induced by Emi2 mediated APC/C inhibition but which also requires the c-Mos pathway to set MPF levels within physiological limits, not too high to induce an arrest that cannot be broken, or too low to induce parthenogenesis.
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PMID:How eggs arrest at metaphase II: MPF stabilisation plus APC/C inhibition equals Cytostatic Factor. 1725 29

The protein C (PC) pathway plays an important role in coagulation and inflammation. Many components of the PC pathway have been identified in epidermal keratinocytes, including endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR), which is the specific receptor for PC/activated PC (APC), but the core member of this pathway, PC, and its function in keratinocytes has not been defined. In this study, we reveal that PC is strongly expressed by human keratinocytes at both gene and protein levels. When endogenous PC was blocked by siRNA the proliferation of keratinocytes was significantly decreased. This inhibitory effect was restored by the addition of recombinant APC. PC siRNA treatment also increased cell apoptosis by 3-fold and inhibited cell migration by more than 20%. When keratinocytes were pretreated with RCR252, an EPCR-blocking antibody, or PD153035, an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor, cell proliferation was hindered by more than 30%. These inhibitors also completely abolished recombinant APC (10 mug/ml)-stimulated proliferation. Blocking PC expression or inhibiting its binding to EPCR/EGFR decreased the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 but increased p38 activation. Furthermore, inhibition of ERK decreased cell proliferation by approximately 30% and completely abolished the stimulatory effect of APC on proliferation. Taken together, these results indicate that keratinocyte-derived PC promotes cell survival, growth, and migration in an autocrine manner via EPCR, EGFR, and activation of ERK1/2. Our results highlight a novel role for the PC pathway in normal skin physiology and wound healing.
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PMID:Protein C is an autocrine growth factor for human skin keratinocytes. 1729 97

Until fertilization, the meiotic cell cycle of vertebrate eggs is arrested at metaphase of meiosis II by a cytoplasmic activity termed cytostatic factor (CSF), which causes inhibition of the anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C), a ubiquitin ligase that targets mitotic cyclins-regulatory proteins of meiosis and mitosis-for degradation. Recent studies indicate that Erp1/Emi2, an inhibitor protein for the APC/C, has an essential role in establishing and maintaining CSF arrest, but its relationship to Mos, a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) kinase kinase that also has an essential role in establishing CSF arrest through activation of p90 ribosomal S6 kinase (p90rsk), is unclear. Here we report that in Xenopus eggs Erp1 is a substrate of p90rsk, and that Mos-dependent phosphorylation of Erp1 by p90rsk at Thr 336, Ser 342 and Ser 344 is crucial for both stabilizing Erp1 and establishing CSF arrest in meiosis II oocytes. Semi-quantitative analysis with CSF-arrested egg extracts reveals that the Mos-dependent phosphorylation of Erp1 enhances, but does not generate, the activity of Erp1 that maintains metaphase arrest. Our results also suggest that Erp1 inhibits cyclin B degradation by binding the APC/C at its carboxy-terminal destruction box, and this binding is also enhanced by the Mos-dependent phosphorylation. Thus, Mos and Erp1 collaboratively establish and maintain metaphase II arrest in Xenopus eggs. The link between Mos and Erp1 provides a molecular explanation for the integral mechanism of CSF arrest in unfertilized vertebrate eggs.
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PMID:Phosphorylation of Erp1 by p90rsk is required for cytostatic factor arrest in Xenopus laevis eggs. 1741 Jan 29

In vertebrates, unfertilized eggs (or mature oocytes) are arrested at metaphase of meiosis II by a cytoplasmic activity called cytostatic factor (CSF). The classical Mos-MAPK pathway has long been implicated in CSF arrest of vertebrate eggs, but exactly how it exerts CSF activity remains unclear. Recently, Erp1 (also called Emi2), an inhibitor of the anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) required for degradation of the mitotic regulator cyclin B (ref. 5), has also been shown to be a component of CSF in both Xenopus and mice. Erp1 is destroyed on fertilization or egg activation, like Mos. However, despite these similarities the Mos-MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) pathway and Erp1 are thought to act rather independently in CSF arrest. Here, we show that p90rsk, the kinase immediately downstream from Mos-MAPK, directly targets Erp1 for CSF arrest in Xenopus oocytes. Erp1 is synthesized immediately after meiosis I, and the Mos-MAPK pathway or p90rsk is essential for CSF arrest by Erp1. p90rsk can directly phosphorylate Erp1 on Ser 335/Thr 336 both in vivo and in vitro, and upregulates both Erp1 stability and activity. Erp1 is also present in early embryos, but has little CSF activity owing, at least in part, to the absence of p90rsk activity. These results clarify the direct link of the classical Mos-MAPK pathway to Erp1 in meiotic arrest of vertebrate oocytes.
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PMID:A direct link of the Mos-MAPK pathway to Erp1/Emi2 in meiotic arrest of Xenopus laevis eggs. 1741 Jan 30

The mitotic arrest deficient 2 (MAD2) is suggested to play a key role in a functional mitotic checkpoint because of its inhibitory effect on anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) during mitosis. The binding of MAD2 to mitotic checkpoint regulators MAD1 and Cdc20 is thought to be crucial for its function and loss of which leads to functional inactivation of the MAD2 protein. However, little is known about the biological significance of this MAD2 mutant in human cells. In this study, we stably transfected a C-terminal-deleted MAD2 gene (MAD2DeltaC) into a human prostate epithelial cell line, Hpr-1 and studied its effect on chromosomal instability, cell proliferation, mitotic checkpoint control and soft agar colony-forming ability. We found that MAD2DeltaC was able to induce aneuploidy through promoting chromosomal duplication, which was a result of an impaired mitotic checkpoint and cytokinesis, suggesting a crucial role of MAD2-mediated mitotic checkpoint in chromosome stability in human cells. In addition, the MAD2DeltaC-transfected cells displayed anchorage-independent growth in soft agar after challenged by 7,12-dimethylbenz[A]anthracene (DMBA), demonstrating a cancer-promoting effect of a defective mitotic checkpoint in human cells. Furthermore, the DMBA-induced transformation was accompanied by a complete loss of DNA damage-induced p53 response and activation of the MAPK pathway in MAD2DeltaC cells. These results indicate that a defective mitotic checkpoint alone is not a direct cause of tumorigenesis, but it may predispose human cells to carcinogen-induced malignant transformation. The evidence presented here provides a link between MAD2 inactivation and malignant transformation of epithelial cells.
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PMID:MAD2DeltaC induces aneuploidy and promotes anchorage-independent growth in human prostate epithelial cells. 1762 Dec 72

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a naturally occurring substance in food sources, occurs as mixtures of positional and geometrical isomers of octadecadienoate (18:2), and may inhibit colon tumorigenesis. It has been hypothesized that CLA can modulate cell proliferation and differentiation through the activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs), among which PPARgamma is involved in growth inhibition of transformed cells. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the antiproliferative effects of CLA are mediated by its interaction with PPARgamma and APC/beta-catenin signalling pathway in human colon cancer cells. In CLA-treated caco-2 cells we found a remarkable increase in the expression of PPARgamma, which translocated into the nucleus, while PPARalpha and beta/delta protein levels were not affected. GW259662, a well known PPARgamma antagonist, blocked the increase in PPARgamma protein rate and abrogated some biological effects of CLA, as it restored the proliferative capability of the cells and ERK1/2 phosphorylation level. We demonstrated that CLA treatment determined the down-regulation of APC and c-myc proteins, but in this case the administration of the antagonist was not able to revert CLA effects. Furthermore, CLA induced a reorganization of E-cadherin and beta-catenin, as well as a redistribution of actin and tubulin filaments. Our data suggest that CLA may regulate PPARgamma expression by selectively acting as an agonist; however, the discrepancies in PPARgamma antagonist efficacy suggest the involvement of other pathways, independent of PPARgamma, in CLA antiproliferative activity.
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PMID:Antiproliferative effect of conjugated linoleic acid in caco-2 cells: involvement of PPARgamma and APC/beta-catenin pathways. 1763 92

Cancer is a complex disease that involves the accumulation of both genetic and epigenetic alterations of numerous genes. Data in the Genetic Alterations in Cancer database for gene mutations and allelic loss [loss of heterozygosity (LOH)] in human tumors (e.g. lung, oral, esophagus, stomach and colon/rectum) were reviewed. Results for the genes and pathways implicated in tumor development at these sites are presented. Mutation incidence, spectra and codon specificity are described for lung, larynx and oral tumors. LOH occurred more frequently than gene mutations in tumors from all sites examined. The cell cycle gene, TP53 (all sites), and cell signaling gene, APC (colorectal and gastric cancers), were the only genes with similar incidences of LOH and mutation. Alterations of one or more cell cycle and cell signaling genes were reported for tumors from each site. Site-specific activation was apparent in the cell signaling mitogen-activated protein kinase oncogenes (KRAS in lung, HRAS in oral cancers and BRAF in esophageal and colorectal cancers). Analysis of genetic changes in lung tumors showed that the incidence of mutations in the TP53 and KRAS genes and the incidence of LOH in the FHIT gene were significantly greater in smokers versus non-smokers (P < 0.01). In lung and oral cancers, the TP53 GC --> TA transversion frequency increased with tobacco smoke exposure (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the TP53 mutational hot spots for lung and laryngeal cancers from smokers included codons 157, 245 and 273, whereas for oral tumors included codons 280 and 281.
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PMID:Genetic pathways and mutation profiles of human cancers: site- and exposure-specific patterns. 1769 65

Members of the TNFR family play critical roles in the regulation of the immune system. One member of the family critical for efficient activation of T-dependent humoral immune responses is CD40, a cell surface protein expressed by B cells and other APC. The cytoplasmic domain of CD40 interacts with several members of the TNFR-associated factor (TRAF) family, which link CD40 to intracellular signaling pathways. TRAF2 and 6 appear to play particularly important roles in CD40 signaling. Previous studies suggest that the two molecules have certain overlapping roles in signaling, but that unique roles for each molecule also exist. To better define the roles of TRAF2 and TRAF6 in CD40 signaling, we used somatic cell gene targeting to generate TRAF-deficient mouse B cell lines. A20.2J cells deficient in TRAF6 exhibit marked defects in CD40-mediated JNK activation and the up-regulation of CD80. Our previous experiments with TRAF2-deficient B cell lines suggest that TRAF6 and TRAF2 may have redundant roles in CD40-mediated NF-kappaB activation. Consistent with this hypothesis, we found CD40-mediated activation of NF-kappaB intact in TRAF6-deficient cells and defective in cells lacking both TRAF2 and TRAF6. Interestingly, we found that TRAF6 mutants defective in CD40 binding were able to restore CD40-mediated JNK activation and CD80 up-regulation in TRAF6-deficient cells, indicating that TRAF6 may be able to contribute to certain CD40 signals without directly binding CD40.
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PMID:A novel mechanism for TNFR-associated factor 6-dependent CD40 signaling. 1787 62

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) play critical roles in vascular physiology and pathophysiology. We have demonstrated previously that NADPH oxidase-derived ROS are required for VEGF-mediated migration and proliferation of endothelial cells. The goal of this study was to determine the extent to which VEGF signaling is coupled to NADPH oxidase activity. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells and/or human coronary artery endothelial cells were transfected with short interfering RNA against the p47(phox) subunit of NADPH oxidase, treated in the absence or presence of VEGF, and assayed for signaling, gene expression, and function. We show that NADPH oxidase activity is required for VEGF activation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase-Akt-forkhead, and p38 MAPK, but not ERK1/2 or JNK. The permissive role of NADPH oxidase on phosphoinositide 3-kinase-Akt-forkhead signaling is mediated at post-VEGF receptor levels and involves the nonreceptor tyrosine kinase Src. DNA microarrays revealed the existence of two distinct classes of VEGF-responsive genes, one that is ROS-dependent and another that is independent of ROS levels. VEGF-induced, thrombomodulin-dependent activation of protein C was dependent on NADPH oxidase activity, whereas VEGF-induced decay-accelerating factor-mediated protection of endothelial cells against complement-mediated lysis was not. Taken together, these findings suggest that NADPH oxidase-derived ROS selectively modulate some but not all the effects of VEGF on endothelial cell phenotypes.
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PMID:NADPH oxidase activity selectively modulates vascular endothelial growth factor signaling pathways. 1790 94

Background The role of co-stimulation in CD4+ T cell activation by professional APC is well established, while less is known of the role co-stimulation plays when CD4+ T cells interact directly with tumor cells. Methods Through genetic engineering of human CD4+ T cells, we tested the hypothesis that integration of co-stimulatory signaling domains within a tumor-targeting chimeric Ag receptor (CAR), the IL-13Ralpha2-specific IL-13-zetakine (IL13zeta), would enhance CD4+ T cell mediated responses against tumors that fail to express ligands for co-stimulatory receptors. Results Compared with CD3zeta-mediated activation alone, CD4+ effector T cells expressing the IL13-CD28-41BBzeta CAR exhibited augmented/sustained MAPK and AKT activity, up-regulated Th1 cytokine production, and enhanced cytolytic potency against tumor targets. Moreover, upon recursive stimulation with tumor, the IL13-CD28-41BBzeta+ cells retained/recycled their lytic function, whereas IL-13zeta+ CD4+ cells became anergic/exhausted. These in vitro observations correlated with enhanced in vivo control of established orthotopic CNS glioma xenografts in immunodeficient mice mediated by adoptively transferred ex vivo-expanded CD4+ T cells expressing the co-stimulatory CAR. Discussion Together these studies demonstrate the importance of integrating co-stimulation with CD3zeta signaling events to activate fully CD4+ anti-tumor effector cells for sustained function in the tumor microenvironment.
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PMID:Transgene-enforced co-stimulation of CD4+ T cells leads to enhanced and sustained anti-tumor effector functioning. 1791 84


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